how short have you gone?

[FLINT]

Has anyone shortened the magazine tube on a winchester 94 carbine (typical configuration, 20" barrel with full mag)? If so how short did you go? and how many rounds does it hold. I'm getting ideas for a new project. I'm definitely wanting to shorten the tube to improve handling characteristics, and also just to do something different. I'm thinking about having the tube stick out past the forend cap just about an inch. the forend on the carbine is pretty short, so that will make the tube pretty short - probably in the 9"-10" range. the older 1894 rifles that would sometimes have half length magazines had longer forends than the later carbines. I don't really care so much about capacity though as I never need more than a couple extra rounds anyways. should be a fairly simple job. cut tube. shorten spring. drill new shallow hole in bottom of barrel for mag screw/end pin. won't need the barrel band.

post any pictures you have of shortened magazine tubes on carbines if you have any. thanks!

[Hawkeye2]

My factory SRC has a 9.5" button end magazine (3 round) and a 9" forearm. How do you figure you can get along without a barrel band to hold the forearm after you shorten the magazine or are you referring to the front band only? You have a carbine with a forearm cap?

[Bill in Oregon]

And here I thought it was a thread about getting shorter as I get older ...

[FLINT]

My factory SRC has a 9.5" button end magazine (3 round) and a 9" forearm. How do you figure you can get along without a barrel band to hold the forearm after you shorten the magazine or are you referring to the front band only? You have a carbine with a forearm cap?

Yes, I have a carbine with a forearm cap, and yes, I was only suggesting to eliminate the front band (since that is the only band this rifle has). Its a Sears model 54. I'm glad that you confirmed that a 9.5" magazine will hold 3 rounds, as that is exactly the length I was thinking of going with.

And here I thought it was a thread about getting shorter as I get older ...

hahaha, oh man, yeah, I already know all about that......

[Pete44ru]

'

You will still need to retain the forend wood, and after the magazine tube's shortened, a good rule of thumb for cutting the spring to length is to make it's frre length 1-1/2 times the length of the shortened magazine tube.

Here's the thread about what's involved:

viewtopic.php?t=68578



The thread's about a Winchester 92, but the identical principals apply to Winchester 1894/94"s.


.

[Hawkeye2]

Sears model 54, that explains a lot. I had forgotten they even existed, good gun to customize. Is the left side drilled & tapped for a Sears scope mount? If so here's a sight to cover them up with:

http://www.peabodyrifle.com/sights.html

[AJMD429]

And here I thought it was a thread about getting shorter as I get older ...

I was having that problem, but getting on the testosterone replacement made things better....

[AJMD429]

Won't the forend wood be loose if it only is held on by being wrapped around the magazine...?

I'd think it really has to have some barrel band or cap to hold it right...

[M. M. Wright]

My really old SRC has it's magazine shortened to 4 round length. Was that way when I got it about 60 years ago. It's a 25-35 but that doesn't matter just the fact that it shoots much better groups this way.

For several years I put the full length magazine on it but got much larger groups with it.

[FLINT]

Won't the forend wood be loose if it only is held on by being wrapped around the magazine...?

I'd think it really has to have some barrel band or cap to hold it right...

yes, so the underside of the barrel has this little guy.



There is a screw that goes through the forend cap and through this little dude and holds the forend on very securely.

[FLINT]

My really old SRC has it's magazine shortened to 4 round length. Was that way when I got it about 60 years ago. It's a 25-35 but that doesn't matter just the fact that it shoots much better groups this way.

For several years I put the full length magazine on it but got much larger groups with it.

I really like the look of that rifle! and in 25-35 no less. very cool.

I was thinking that accuracy may improve without the magazine tube anchored to the end of the barrel.

[OldWin]

Carbines with shorter than standard magazines, regardless of length, have a domed magazine cap with a small tenon at the top. It fits in a small emission slot cut into the bottom of the barrel to aid in retaining it and the tube.
A button magazine on a 94 will hold 3 in the tube. A 2/3 will hold 4. There is a very scarce 3/4, that I assume holds 5, but I've never owned one.

[Hawkeye2]

Old Win I can remember seeing those different length magazines in the hands of the elders in town when I was in grade school but I haven't seen one in over 50 years. I do know my half magazine carbine is the handiest rifle I have ever taken into the woods. Shot my first deer with it when I was 14, still have it.

[OldWin]

I'm at work now, but can post pics when I get home. I have several short magazine carbines. They are fairly common here.
The lightest 94 I've ever handled is a half mag 38-55 SRC with gumwood stock that I have.
The short magazine examples, in my experience, are always more accurate, also.

[FLINT]

Well, I cut the magazine tube down tonight and I'm pretty pleased with the way it looks and handles.

I cut the tube to 9 1/2" and it ended up being about 9 7/16" after filing, etc. Extends past the forend cap about 1 1/2" and it holds 3 rounds just fine which is plenty for my uses.

I haven't drilled the hole in the barrel yet for the magazine end pin screw, though I'm not sure I need it as the forend cap really clamps down on the tube. I'll still do it though as otherwise I'll always worry about it flying out.

[Rusty]

Winchester didn't make any Trapper carbines for a long time, then 35 or so years ago they came out with them again but they were very pricey. At the time I knew I could buy a beat up '94 in just about any pawn shop in town for $125 or so. It would take another $300 on top of that for one of the new Trappers. I decided I could make one myself so I cut the barrel down to 16.25" and shortened the Mag tube about 1/2" shorter than that. I cut the Mag spring on a trial and error basis to get the right spring tension and it would hold 2 rounds in the tube with one up the spout.

[M. M. Wright]

Well, I cut the magazine tube down tonight and I'm pretty pleased with the way it looks and handles.

I cut the tube to 9 1/2" and it ended up being about 9 7/16" after filing, etc. Extends past the forend cap about 1 1/2" and it holds 3 rounds just fine which is plenty for my uses.

I haven't drilled the hole in the barrel yet for the magazine end pin screw, though I'm not sure I need it as the forend cap really clamps down on the tube. I'll still do it though as otherwise I'll always worry about it flying out.

Now THAT'"S how a rifle should look. Put a receiver sight on it. Or better yet a tang sight to give it a longer sight radius then give us range report. I think you're gonna like the grou[s it'll shoot.

[FLINT]

Now THAT'"S how a rifle should look. Put a receiver sight on it. Or better yet a tang sight to give it a longer sight radius then give us range report. I think you're gonna like the grou[s it'll shoot.

Thanks! Will do!

[ywaltzucanrknrl]

Flint, how does this rifle shoot?

I have one of these with a 3X Sears scope, a neat package from back in the day of Sears. I worked on it last night because when the lever was cycled it was nearly locking up when the cam on the bolt rode over the hammer. I found, after looking at a Winchester 94 parts gun that I have that the bend in the hammer spring was very different. When the lever was cycled and the cam rode over the hammer, the base of the hammer was contacting the hammer spring and putting a lot of pressure on the bolt making it very hard to cycle. I used the hammer spring off of the Winchester 94 and it cycles great---very slick now. The rifle has been shot very little, in fact I don't think it has been cycled much from looking at the blue wear on the bolt which makes sense because of how hard it was to cycle.

I really like the looks of yours and may try to do the same with mine.

Actually there are some things I like on the Sears 54 better than a similar year Winchester 94. I like the metal checkered butt plate and the side mount scope is neat, but not my cup of tea. As long as I can see half way decent, I prefer using sights instead of a scope on a saddle rifle. I also like the forend cap although at first it kind of bothered me. The sights are not great, but I'll put a rear peep on it and another nice feature is that it's drilled and tapped for a receiver sight---always a plus.

Let me know how yours shoots.
Thanks.

[FLINT]

Flint, how does this rifle shoot?


Let me know how yours shoots.
Thanks.

It shoots very well actually. However, I perhaps foolishly decided to go another direction and now have built a whole different gun around that receiver.

I have/had zero problems or stiffness with the action on that rifle though. None at all. Very smooth.

I have all of the pieces of the original gun as pictured above minus the receiver, and intend to sell them, so if you want to build another, I'm your guy. Barrel was rebored to 38-55 by JES and it shoots really really well. Probably very foolish of me to take it apart.

[Lastmohecken]

This probably won't help much, but I recently sent my Henry 360 Buckhammer, to a custom gunsmith to have the barrel shortened to about 18"-19" and get rid of both of those dovetails cut in the barrel, and I am having the Henry double mag tube completely eliminated and he's going to replace it with an actual Winchester 30/30 mag tube, and make it what I call a half magazine rifle, where the tube will extend about 4 inches past the forend. This will give me 4 shots in magazine. At first, I was going to do a button magazine, but I think that would have only given me 2 maybe 3 shots max. And I wanted five including the one in the barrel, because I have actually used 5 shots on many occasions shooting running deer. The last two years in a row, I have shot an 8 point running across a field and ended up shooting 5 times. Killed them both, but the 5th shot was the anchoring shot, on at least one of them, maybe both.

[RIHMFIRE]

looks good!

[ywaltzucanrknrl]

Thanks Flint, PM me and let's see if we can work out a deal. I bought a nice 38-55 two years ago but gave it to my granddaughter because she really liked shooting it. It's a nice 50's vintage 336 that was rebored by someone but I can't figure out who. I've been wanting to pick up a 38-55 for my own as I reload and cast for hers, plus I'd just like to have one, I have to admit that I had a hard time parting with the one I gave to my granddaughter as it shoots great and with light cast loads was about perfect for most of my uses. I appreciate the offer.

I suspect that if yours cycles fine without any hitches that the hammer spring was bent correctly. That was really the only issue. There was a major difference between the bend on the Sears 54 hammer spring and the Winchester 94 parts gun hammer spring. .

[geobru]

This was my dad's 30-30 that was made in 1903. I think he bought it in the 40's. I know he had it before I was born because there was a nice mule deer mount that he shot with this gun hanging in our living room wall the while I was growing up. The magazine was already shortened when he bought it. He sold it with a box of shells for $5 to a young cousin who wanted to go deer hunting. When I was about 20 years old, I asked the cousin if he would sell it to me and he said no. I left him with this admonition: "If you ever decide to sell it, call me because I would like to keep it in the family. A few years later, he was talking to my dad and asked if he would like to buy that old 30-30. Dad asked him how much, and he said $5. My brother wound up with the gun and after passed away a few years ago, his son asked me about the guns he had. I told him the story about the 30-30 and said it was the only gun that my brother had that needed to stay in the family. When we took my brother's ashes to scatter at a location that was meaningful to him, he told me he had some stuff that I might want from his Dad's house. There was a box of old dishes and some of my dad's tools. Then he pulled this 30-30 out of his car and asked if I wanted to buy it. I asked him how much and he said $5. In September 2024, I sold it to another nephew for $5 who grew up with my dad around him and is most likely to keep that gun in the family.

These are pics of the gun I took before I sold it. That rifle is a straight shooter and held 3 in the magazine. I never shot it much, but I hit everything that I shot with it. The gun on the right in the first picture is the 30-30. The other is a 32 Special that I picked up along the way.

1894 Winchesters 30-30 & 32 Spl.jpg

thumbnail_IMG_7263.jpg

thumbnail_IMG_7275.jpg

[FLINT]

I love that story. Thanks for sharing. What a cool looking rifle!! Glad it's still in the family

[ywaltzucanrknrl]

Very nice geobru, neat rifle and a good story.